SINGAPORE — Not all major taxi operators here bar their cabbies from rejecting passengers with guide dogs, a check with three of the biggest operators in Singapore revealed.

On Monday night (Nov 3), visually impaired counsellor Cassandra Chiu had a fall at Tanglin Shopping Centre and had to seek treatment at a hospital after a taxi driver rejected her and her guide dog Esme, sparking an outcry among those who read about the incident on Esme’s Facebook page.

Under the Land Transport Authority’s regulations, taxi drivers are not allowed to reject passengers with caged or muzzled pets except for health or religious reasons — but guide dogs are allowed to board Comfort and CityCab taxis without muzzles, said Ms Tammy Tan, group corporate communications officer of ComfortDelGro, which operates the majority of the taxi fleet here. “Any driver found guilty of rejecting customers without proper and valid reasons will be disciplined,” she said, without elaborating on the penalties.

A spokesperson for Singapore’s second-largest taxi operator, TransCab, said it does not have a policy barring its drivers from rejecting passengers with guide dogs, but has not received any complaints on this so far.

SMRT, the third-largest operator here, encourages all its “taxi partners to accept visually handicapped passengers with guide dogs on board our taxis as far as possible”, said Mr Patrick Nathan, its vice-president of Corporate Information and Communications.

The taxi operator and driver involved in Monday’s incident could not be ascertained as of today (Nov 5).

Ms Chiu, who was returning home after work, said the driver in question had opened his car door and tried to drive off, causing her to fall. He had just dropped off two passengers and refused to take her, even after she explained that Esme was her guide dog and showed her identification card with the Guide Dogs Association of the Blind.

Ms Chiu was helped by another taxi driver and managed to get a cab only on her third attempt calling for one. She then discovered that her leg was bleeding and went to the Singapore General Hospital, where she underwent X-rays and had her wounds cleaned. Esme was found to be uninjured by her vet.

Monday’s incident was not Ms Chiu’s first negative experience with taxi drivers — she broke her ribs a few months ago when another cabbie tried to drive off, she wrote.

“Although this time, I did not suffer any broken bones … the ache throughout my body from the fall and abrasions on my knees would certainly take a while to heal,” Ms Chiu said in a response to TODAY.

She constantly gets taxis driving off, unwilling to take her even when it has been indicated in the booking that the passenger is blind and has a guide dog, she added.